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The new book features individuals chasing after new beginnings, attempting to leave behind addictions or harmful partnerships, only to witness hope devolve into aggression. Chris Kraus often employs the phrase "clean slate", transforming it into intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Phrases such as "He was ready for a new beginning" and "They opted for a clean break" are scattered across the story. And yet, she is embarking on her own fresh start, because this seems a new kind of book – observational, genuinely novelistic. Yet it proves to be filled with the same dilemmas and aesthetics as her previous works.

From Chance Novelist to Renowned Book

Chris Kraus began as an artist who transitioned to writing almost accidentally with her 1997 groundbreaking book I Love Dick, structured as letters to an unreceptive lover, converting confessional female writing from humiliation into rebellion. She continued writing, but the next trio of compelling and abrasive novels missed the impact and rawness that the epistolary style imparted to the narrative voice of I Love Dick. Compounding this was her role as a maverick maker who had become a major property owner, so there was much discussion on real estate deals. It is logical that she now wants to try out fresh narrative sources, looking outwards to other people's stories, at a time when she asserts that contemporary political climate makes confessional writing obsolete.

Multiple Generations, Shared Inescapable History

The Four Spent the Day Together is organized into a trio of segments, spanning several time periods – each trapped by their pasts. The book includes the tale of Emma and Jasper, representations of her own mother and father, transitioning from the Bronx to rural Connecticut. Then there is the story of Kraus herself, in the persona of protagonist Catt Greene, reckoning with the late recognition of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her substance-dependent spouse Paul. The third thread involves the account of a killing of one troubled youth by another in a locality long abandoned by liberal ideals only a short distance from the protagonist's home in the Minnesota countryside.

For this reader fond of honed writing of the type Kraus often avoids, I was captivated by the narrative style of the initial segment.

Being a reader drawn to honed writing of the kind that the author usually avoids, I was won over by the storytelling approach of the opening segment. It possesses a new quality of attentiveness that makes room for trivial aspects, like the bucket that the youthful Catt frees from the ice at the opening of the book, assisted by her cherished parent. "I found an ice toy!" she exclaims; "a lovely toy", he answers, "the ambiguous meanings of language circulating in their speech like sweet treats". The author narrates Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "Emma felt like she'd stepped into a dream – not entirely her own."

Frustration and Disruption

I was fated to feel let down when I expected this new voice could last out the book. Kraus notes here that she resents the enjoyment those who appreciate polished prose have taken from I Love Dick; she's dedicated to disruption, to the untidy aesthetics she echoes from her idol writer Kathy Acker, and the emptiness and redundancy of her past books comes back in the central part. Catt is attempting to do up three dozen dilapidated units in the most troubled areas of Albuquerque while shuttling between two different states, unsuccessful in assisting Paul manage his alcohol use. She feels helpless as Paul moves between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a environment propelled by the rage and anxiety that underpins an electoral success. There are several pages about Catt's social media ostracism on Twitter, her listed profession modified from "novelist" to "landlord" on Wikipedia. Kraus still seems to care a little too much about this. In a moment she states that she's looking into the killing so that before exiting the region, "she could potentially understand something about an the United States that her Twitter detractors would not understand, would not even perceive".

The Murder Narrative

Then we reach to the homicide in question – and the eponymous day spent by the deceased with the murderer and his associates. Kraus utilizes great source material, and knows hour by hour what happened when Brandon came to meet Brittney after meeting her on an app where she offered adult photos. He anticipated intimacy but seems amiably to have occupied the day in the company of her associates, loitering having his vehicle repaired and funding treats and narcotics, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a individual with mental health challenges who has often been institutionalized for aggressive outbursts.

Obsession and Unfinished Business

Catt gets obsessed by the narrative, and I was fascinated by the way that her twin drives towards ethical reporting and audacious rule-breaking clash in this segment. However, I would have preferred her to explore more thoroughly her individual preoccupations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who becomes vivid partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt converses with Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that the author's storytelling ends almost mid-par